Gisborne Boys' High students and teachers with the mural. Photo: Supplied
A spectacular mural at a Gisborne skatepark is the winning entry in a competition to raise awareness of a free counselling service for young people in distress.
The Barnados charity, concerned at domestic violence in Gisborne and a shortage of youth counsellors, ran the competition to raise awareness of its '0800 What's Up' helpline.
The winning entry was blessed this week by minister Te Aorangi Harrington.
"This mural represents the voices of our youth, their struggles, their hopes and their courage. It's more than just paint on a wall, it's a beacon of support and a symbol of the love, aroha and care this community offers to its young people," he said.
The mural covers a 10 metre-wide wall that is more than four metres high and has been painted by two Gisborne Boys' High students. Their teacher Brett Summerlee told RNZ it represented the vibrancy and culture of their area.
"We used a tiki form, a taniwha form.. he's riding a skateboard and doing a big jump then in backgorund have the sun rising which is significat to us on East Coast, then Young Nicks Head and a few waves in there," said Summerlee.
The giant skateboard has '0800 What's Up' written on it, which is a free nationwide counselling service for young people that is available every day from 11am to 11pm.
"Definitely things like this are much needed, any mental health support. It's pretty close to home for me - I lost a good friends a few years ago to mental health and since then we've been on a bit of a mission to bring awareness to these things and I know as a New Zealand male growing up... there is a lot more awareness now," he said.
An awareness that Barnados Gisborne manager Chris Semmens said was more important than ever, as family harm was prevalent in some parts of the community, and it was affecting the mental wellbeing of its youth.
He said the problem can be exacerbated by the cost of living crisis, making it harder for whanau to put food on the table and pay their bills.
"It's those situations that cause arguments that make the partner feel unsafe, and they ring the police. Sadly our tamariki and rangitahi are seeing that, seeing and hearing mum and dad argue. It's starting to slowly be normalised in the home," said Semmens.
But accessing help can be tough, as counselling waitlists are months long and there are not enough resources in their area.
"There's been a struggle to get our tamariki and rangatahi into see specialist counsellors, only because the need is so high," he said.
It's why Barnados was raising awareness of its helpline, and Harrington said people needed to know that help was always available.
"As this mural stands here may it remind us all of the power of connection, the important of mental wellbeing and the need to care for one another. May it inspire us to reach out to those around us, to offer a kind word a listening ear and a helping hand to those who may be struggling in silence," he said.
